SITTOSOMUS. 177 



Sitfasomus syMoides, Lafr. Rev. Zool. 1849, p. 331 °; 1850, p. 590"; Scl. P. Z. S. 1856, p. 290"; 



1859, p. 365 "; 1864, p. 175"; Salv. Ibis, 1861, p. 353"; Lawr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. ix. 



p. 106 " ; Sumichrast, Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H. i. p. 555 " ; Frantz. J. f . Orn. 1869, p. 304 " ; 



Sanchez, An. Mus. Nac. Mex. i. p. 97 '». 

 Sittosomus pectinicaudus, Cab. & Heine, Mus. Hein. ii. p. 33 ". 



Supra olivaoeo-rufescens, capite summo oinerascentiore, uropygio, cauda efc tectricibus subcaudalibus laete cinna- 

 mbmeis : slibtus oliVaoeo-oineretis ; alls nigricantibus, seoundariis ad apicem et extrorsum (intimis omnino) 

 oinnamomeis, remigibus internis quoque eodem modo ornatis, subalaribus et fascia alarum pallide cinna^ 

 momeis, primariis tribus externis omnino nigricantibus ; rostro efc pedibus corneis, maudibula pallida. 

 Long, tota 6-0, alte 3-2, caudse 3-2, rostri a rictu 0-8, tarsi 0-7. (Descr. exempl. ex Jalapa, Mexico, 

 Mus. nostr.) 



2 mari omnino similis. 



iSai). Mexico lo {Beppe ^^, White ^^), Hot region of Vera Cruz le, Potrero * {Sumichrast), 

 Jalapa {de Oca i^, F. J). G., M. Trujillo, F. Ferrari-Perez,), Coatepec {F. Ferrari- 

 Perez, M. Trujillo), Cofre de Perote, Cuesta de Misantla {M. Trujillo), Cordova 

 {Salle 11), Vera Cruz {Sanchez i8), Sochiapa {Trujillo), Teapa {Mrs. H. H. Smith)^ 

 Santa Efigenia {Sumichrast^), Northern Yucatan {G. F. Gaumer); British Hon- 

 duras, Orange Walk {Gaumer^); GuAXEMAiiA, Pie de la Cuesta in San Marcos 

 {W. B. Michardson), Choctum i^, Savana Grande between the Volcanoes of Agua 

 and Fuego {0. S. & F. B. G.) ; Nicaragua, Sucuya {Nutting s) ; Costa Rica, Tem- 

 pate Nicoya {Arc6), Dota Mountains {Carmiol ^^) ; Panama, Chiriqui ^, Chitra, 

 Calovevora^ {Arc6). — South America generally, from Colombia to Guiana and 

 South Brazil i. 



Sittosomus olivaceus is a common characteristic species of Tropical South America, 

 and is also found in nearly the whole of the lowland forests of Central America and 

 Southern Mexico as far north as the middle of the State of Vera Cruz. It is absent 

 from Western Mexico, but occurs on both sides of the mountain-range of Guatemala. 

 Its range in altitude extends to about 4000 feet in the neighbourhood of Jalapa, in 

 Vera Cruz, and perhaps higher on the slopes of the neighbouring mountain, the Cofre 

 de Perote. In Guatemala it chiefly affects the forests of Vera Paz lying at an elevation 

 of about 1500 to 2000 feet down to the sea-level, and has the habits of all the stiff- 

 tailed members of the family, climbing trees like a Certhia or Woodpecker, its food 

 being insects. 



Several names have been proposed for this species to distinguish local forms, but 

 none of these seem capable of definition in view of the very wide uninterrupted range 

 enjoyed by the bird as a whole. To the Mexican bird Lafresnaye gave the name of 

 *S'. syhioides, which Cabanis and Heine supplanted by S. pectinicaudus. The former 

 was long used in lists of Mexican and Central-American birds, but it gradually became 

 evident that no real distinction could be drawn between them and birds from the 

 southern continent, so all have latterly been united under «S'. olivaceus, the title 

 bestowed by Prince Wied upon the Brazilian bird. 



BIOL. CENTR.-AMER., Aves, Vol. II., September 1891. 23 



